


The Other Side of the Fence

by LifeInWentworth



Category: Wentworth - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-01
Updated: 2013-10-25
Packaged: 2017-12-25 07:15:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/950223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LifeInWentworth/pseuds/LifeInWentworth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From a prompt about Erica being in prison. Heard it mentioned (and of course thought about it myself) quite a few times and was kind of nervous to do it, but I've come up with the story now (multi-shot!) so thought I'd give it a go!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Erica was escorted through the prison. Oh, how it was to be on the other side of the fence. How had she got herself in this mess? It was more than a mess, it was a fucking disaster and the answer was the same as it always was; Franky. She’d let herself get in way too deep, against all the warning bells in her head. She had followed her instincts and her heart, and fuck look where it had got her. Franky had become more than the smartass prisoner she should have been, she had become a friend and a…well Erica, didn’t know the name for what she had become exactly but the point was that she had let a prisoner into her world, all the way into her world and that Franky in return, had put her trust in the governor. So, when Franky was finally caught for being the true killer of Meg, it was natural that Erica would go down too. That’s what happens, after all, when you steal evidence from a murder investigation. And where had it gotten them anyway? Now they were both going to be locked away for an extensive sentence. That was if the now-ex governor could last her sentence, it was never going to be easy entering Wentworth as a prisoner with all these women who had a thousand reasons to hate her.

Franky was in the yard as Erica was escorted in. She sat by herself; her standing in the prison had fallen rapidly when the truth came out. The truth. Franky had killed Meg and let someone else take the fall. Hell, if you really wanted to push it you could blame a lot that hinged on Franky’s lies. Not to mention, the whole time she was being protected by the governor. Now there was no direct proof, but the other women all knew that the two must have been fucking. So now Franky, once top dog of Wentworth was nothing more than the governor’s little pet project. 

The guards were well aware of the dangers that presented their old boss as the other women growled and lunged at her. As much as they hated what Erica had done (though there was a couple who believed that Franky had been the one to take advantage and manipulate the governor), it was still their responsibility to protect her. Eventually, the other women let her move on and she wandered over to Franky, sitting opposite her not saying a word.

“Are you okay?” Franky asked, full of concern and guilt. She could feel the rest of the women watching her but she only had eyes for Erica.  
Erica looked at her, “I’m fine,” she said in a low voice.  
“Erica, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I never meant for this – “  
“I know, Franky. I know,” Erica nodded, holding back tears.  
Franky clenched her jaw as though she was trying to hold in Erica’s tears herself.  
“Isn’t there anything they can do? You were the governor for fucks sake.”  
“Exactly. That only makes it worse. I stole evidence, Franky, there’s no way out of that,” Erica looked Franky in the eye, trying to get her message across.  
“I’m – “  
“Please don’t apologise. You didn’t ask me to go into the file, Franky. I made the choice. It isn’t your fault,” Erica was tired, she really didn’t need to fight with Franky over this.  
Franky nodded, she could see Erica didn’t want to argue and neither did she. In fact, all she really wanted was to be alone with Erica, without all these eyes on them, but she knew if she tried to take Erica inside someone would come after them. They were safer in the crowd, and under the guard’s watch. It was ironic that the two would probably find it harder to have any time alone in here than they did when Erica was the governor.

Fletch had taken over as governor, after being friendly with Channing for months it didn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone. He had made himself comfortable in the office, but it really wasn’t the best of circumstances to take over a prison, the ex governor being imprisoned for colluding with a prisoner and covering up the murder of her predecessor. Of course, Erica’s name was like poison in the industry now and there was a lot of anger from employee’s, the board, the public. The prison weren’t going to give the governor-turned-criminal the privilege of an ‘easy’ sentence in protection. The admin couldn’t be completely stupid though; they had made sure that Erica was placed in Franky’s block. Even that, they knew, was no guarantee that Erica would survive.  
“Are you going to keep studying?” Erica asked, as she ate her first prison-meal. At least the food wasn’t as bad as she had thought.  
Franky looked surprised, “I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it, Erica. I don’t know if I could.”  
Erica put her fork down, “I swear to god Franky, if you don’t continue your degree I’ll never talk to you again.”  
“Erica,” Franky said in shock, “what…where did that come from?”  
“We worked too hard for you to just give it up. Besides, it’s obvious you have no friends in here anymore, you need something to fill your time.”  
Franky thought about saying something like jeez Erica, you’re still trying to be governor, but decided it was too soon, “Okay,” she nodded, “I’ll keep studying then. What about you? You need to find something to do too.”  
Erica looked relieved, “Good. And yeah, I know. I will, I’m talking to someone about courses this afternoon.”  
Franky nodded, “I’m going to keep you safe, Erica. I promise, you’re going to get through this.”  
Erica sighed, “Franky, you’re in enough shit with the other women as it is.”  
“Exactly, I can hardly get in anymore. Besides, Erica,” Franky reached across the table and touched Erica’s hand quickly and gently, “I love you,” she said quietly.  
Erica smiled for the first time since she’d entered Wentworth as a prisoner, “I love you too.”

Franky could hardly shower without worrying about Erica; she’d been as quick as she could and headed back to the block, still drying her hair. Gone were the days she walked these halls as if she owned them, she was determined not to show any shame though and still walked with her head held high. There were just none of the old smiles, greetings or high fives, just glare’s, looks of disappointment and complete snubs. Kim was the only one who did none of the three usual reactions; she simply avoided Franky’s eyes, still unsure of what she was meant to feel. Franky was sure something would come from Kim at some stage, but for now she was being quiet. Franky walked in to the block, Erica’s door was closed and Liz, Doreen and another woman were standing outside it. Franky approached them.

“Get out of the way,” she demanded.  
They shook their heads, and Franky could hear the smash of fists against skin on the other side of the door and worse, Erica’s reactions; cries as she hit the floor.  
Franky tried to push them aside, and she was good, she was tough but it was three on one. Franky was still writhing on the ground when Erica’s door opened and Simmo, Bea and a new woman, Cassie who had been initiated in, walked out smugly. Bea smirked at Franky on the floor, walking over and making a single, swift quick into the ribs. Franky had certainly realised as of late that she had well underestimated Bea Smith. Even after Debbie, Franky didn’t think Bea had been capable of the things she’d done since then, but she was proving herself to be one of the most vicious top dog’s Wentworth had ever seen. Fuelled by anger and hatred at anyone involved in her daughter’s death (and didn’t it feel good to lay into the woman who hadn’t allowed her to go to Debbie’s funeral?), Bea had finally learnt what it was Jacs and Franky had been fighting for.  
Franky clenched her jaw in pain and stumbled into Erica’s room, closing the door (and hoping it stayed that way) and rushed to Erica’s side. Her left eye was already beginning to bruise and she had blood dripping from both sides of her lip and nose. She clutched her stomach.  
“Oh god, Erica, I’m so sorry,” Franky let a few tears run down her face. She started to clean Erica up, wiping both of their tears away. She sat Erica up against the bed.  
“Are you okay? Do you need medical?”  
Erica shook her head, “I’ll be okay. I just want to lie down.”  
Franky helped her onto the bed and brushed her hair out of her face, “I’m going to stay with you.”  
“You’ll just get us in more trouble, Franky.”  
“I don’t care. I’m not leaving you,” Franky winced as she lay down next to Erica, her ribs still causing her pain.  
“Hey,” Erica whispered, putting her hand on Franky’s face, “are you okay? Is it your ribs?”  
Franky nodded, “Yeah, hurts a bit but I’m tough, I’ll be right,” she smiled unconvincingly.  
Erica put her hand on Franky’s ribs, “Are you sure? They’re not broken?” she pressed a little harder and though Franky cried out in pain, they were clearly still in tact, “sorry,” she whispered, giving Franky a quick peck on the cheek.  
Franky curled an arm around Erica’s shoulders and pulled her close. Erica took a while to get to sleep, but it was Franky who stared at the door until the early hours of the morning when she simply couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. She buried herself in Erica’s smell, different now than it had been when she was a governor wearing expensive, intoxicating perfume, and fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Even Boomer had turned on Franky. Or turned away from her anyway. Kim and her had been the last two in Wentworth to hang by Franky. For neither of them though, it wasn’t the fact that Franky had killed Meg. If either of them had known, they would have happily covered for her. What pissed both of them off, as well as hurt the feelings they liked to pretend didn’t exist, is that she didn’t realise that she could have trusted them, used them even to help her. It had seemed Boomer’s loyalty to Franky was blind, but this was not the case when she found out that Franky had instead used the governor to cover her tracks. It was a weird kind of anger, but it was fuelled when she saw Kim, who she’d always been quite close to as well, react to the news.

Kim had, understandably, felt betrayed. She had been with Franky for a long time, and she knew Franky was a flirt and liked to rile up the governor at times, but it seemed she had been naïve thinking that that was just Franky playing games. But things must have been pretty serious between the two of them if the governor had been willing to risk her freedom to cover up for a prisoner. Kim felt like an idiot, she had thought Franky really cared about her, and now she didn’t believe it at all. How could she? She’d seen the way that Franky had looked at Erica when she’d been escorted into the prison. She didn’t even recognise the look on Franky’s face; she’d never looked at Kim like that, and no matter how it hurt she couldn’t look away from the two of them. What annoyed Kim more was that she couldn’t just turn her feelings off for Franky but what sickened her was that she still kind of felt sorry for the treatment that her and the ex-governor were getting.

Franky woke up after about two hours with a cramp in her neck. She sat up and looked at Erica next to her. She was asleep, breathing lightly. Her left eye was dark around the edges though her lip was almost healed, barely noticeable. Franky traced her finger gently over Erica’s bruised eye, filled with guilt. She let her hand drop and put her hands behind her head, keeping her gaze on the door. She’d always thought she would love to have Erica in here with her, or anywhere with her. But this was horrible. Franky knew how to protect herself, and she’d even been fine with protecting the other women, when they needed it. But she had nothing anymore, nobody to work with; Boomer didn’t talk to her and Kim just avoided her. She could hardly blame them. Especially Kim. Mostly, she tried not to think about Kim; she knew she’d done wrong by her. She’d just never thought that anything would actually happen with Erica and then when it had it had all escalated so quickly, she had tried to back away from Kim but Kim had noticed and clung on tighter than ever.   
“Morning,” Erica mumbled as she turned into Franky’s side, “did you sleep?”  
“Yeah, a bit,” Franky tried to sound upbeat instead of as exhausted as she felt.

Every time, Franky and Erica left the safety of their room, it was like a dark cloud followed them around. At least most of the glares had stopped; mostly, nobody cast a glance their way. At least, not in front of the guards. They still used every opportunity without supervision to lay into Franky and Erica. It was hard to tell who got it worse; there was a lot of hatred going around for both of them. But for now, Erica had escaped to the safety of the library for study, leaving Franky alone. This meant Franky was in the bathroom, trying to clean herself up; a kick to the head had it throbbing like hell. Truth be told, she felt like shit, the gash on her forehead wouldn’t stop bleeding and she really didn’t want to go to medical. She slid down the wall and sat with a wad of tissue to her head. The door swung open and on instinct, she stood up, ready for another bashing. It was Kim. The two of them stared at each other in silence for only a moment, then Bea, Doreen and Liz came through the door. Franky was glad Erica wasn’t there for this little reunion. She knew the chances were that more blood was about to spilt.

“Come on, Kim,” Bea stood behind her, goading her, “don’t you want her to pay for treating you like shit?”  
Kim swallowed, sizing Franky up but not saying anything.  
“Kim,” Franky tried to ignore the ache in her ribs, “come on, don’t do this please.”  
Kim took a step towards Franky, “Shut up, Franky,” she said quietly.  
Franky wasn’t silent very often, but what more could she say? Not to mention the ache in her head seemed to be travelling downwards; her eyes were heavy and she’d love to put a hand out to steady herself on the wall but refused to show how bad her condition was. Especially in the wake of the smirk on Bea’s face the moment Kim had told her to shut up. People loved seeing Wentworth’s previous top dog at the bottom, squirming in pain.  
“This is between me and Franky,” Kim still spoke in a low voice, but with more authority than anyone had heard her use before.


	3. Payback

It wasn’t fair to say Franky had never cared about Kim. But that’s what they said, and that’s what Kim had been listening to for months. But still, Kim wasn’t easily influenced. She knew, probably better than Franky did, or liked to admit, that there was a certain kind of love in their relationship. It may not have been the romantic love and they may not have been “in love” but they still loved each other. Franky still loved Kim. She definitely cared about her. And she had never wanted to hurt Kim, but she’d known it was inevitable if anything were to eventuate between her and the governor, she’d just taught herself not to think about it.

Franky knew she should at least get up from the floor, put in some kind of effort, put up some kind of effort but her head was spinning at it was and she knew she couldn’t fight Kim like this. Kim was deceivingly slight in frame, but she could throw a punch as well as anybody and her roundhouse kick was something not to be messed with. Plus she had a temper that few knew about it. She came off as cool and collected, but Franky knew her past – she could get violent when she felt betrayed.  
“Kim, please… “ she tried once more, hating that it sounded as though she were begging the other woman for mercy. Maybe she was. Maybe she was sick of the beatings.  
Kim just stared down at Franky, apprehension in her eyes, “Have you fucked her yet?”  
Franky sighed, “Kim – “ she gripped the basin next to her and began to pull herself up; she wasn’t taking this lying down, it just wasn’t in her nature. Kim had other ideas and shoved Franky back down roughly.  
“Answer the question, Franky,” she said in a low voice.  
Franky thought of being her usual smart ass self, but sighed, “Yes,” she answered.  
“Are you in love with her?” Kim asked the question she had really wanted to ask.  
Franky could still feel the blood on her forehead and her vision was beginning to blur, “Yes,” she answered. She just wanted Kim to hit her so she’d pass out, her head was killing her, she probably needed medical but all she could do was sit here and get questioned by her jealous fucking ex. Kim’s fist made contact with her cheek before she even saw it coming and she was on all four, spitting the blood from her mouth when she felt Kim’s foot in her stomach, throwing her onto her back.  
“Did you know I was in love with you, Franky?” Kim asked, her foot balanced precariously over Franky’s ribs.  
“Kim, I thought…I didn’t…”  
“What, no idea?” Kim snarled, “don’t lie to me.”  
Franky couldn’t have moved if she wanted to, “Maybe. I don’t know, I didn’t know either way. Kim, I’m sorry.”  
“Bullshit,” Kim shook her head, angrily.  
“Kim, I swear to god, I never meant it to turn out like this. I cared about you, I still do. I’m sorry you’re hurt, I’m sorry you’re mad but don’t do this – “  
“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t,” Kim’s voice was gravelly with the pain showing in her eyes.  
“Because I don’t want you to get more time. You could be out in a fucking year Kim… I’m not worth you extending your stay in this shit hole.”  
Kim nodded, “That’s fucking true… You’re not,” she said coldly, giving Franky one last look before walking out of the bathroom.

“Franky,” Erica gasped as Franky stumbled into her cell, still bleeding from the head and well, looking like death warmed up, “what happened?” she rushed over to the brunette’s side and helped her to the bed, “you idiot, you need medical.”  
Franky nodded, “I know, I can’t,” she was choking out her words, “Erica, I’m really dizzy.”  
She looked it too, her eyes were rolling into the back of her head and back again; she lay back on the bed. She was blinking fast, trying to keep her eyes open.  
“Hey, hey keep your eyes open,” Erica was panicking; Franky was in a bad way, “I’m going to get you help.”  
“No, no, don’t leave me,” Franky looked so…pathetic, lying there with her hand stretched out to Erica.  
“I have to, Franky, you need medical. I’ll be quick, I promise. I’ll close the door, just stay quiet and for god’s sake, press the stupid button if you need to. We can’t get any less popular.”  
Franky nodded weakly and less than a minute after Erica had left, Franky passed out.


	4. This Is A Bad Town For Such A Pretty Face.

Erica understood power play. Whether it was on the inside on the outside, it was basically the same except in prison it was more violent. Now the ex-governor had never been an aggressive woman, she preferred mind games and just being good at what she was doing in order to win people over. When she was younger she may have been known to use her looks once or twice as a bargaining tool, smiling in the right places could work wonders for closing a deal. But when in prison, do as the prisoners do… right?  
So she swung a fist and felt it connect with Bea Smith’s surprised face as she stumbled backwards. Erica looked at her hand and shook away the pain.

“What the fuck?” Bea spat.  
About six women flocked to Bea’s shoulder, which admittedly did make Erica a bit nervous, but she felt strangely empowered, having never punched anybody before. She could see the redness emerging on Bea’s’ face and she liked that. Bea held up a single hand, holding back her hoons. She herself took a step closer to Erica.  
“I thought you were smarter than that, Erica,” she said slowly, a smile threatening to take over her lips, “Where’s your little lapdog anyway?”  
Erica shrugged, “She’s not the only one who can fight. Just thought you should know that,” lightening quick the blonde had Bea up against the wall with a knife to her throat, “Come any closer and your boss gets it,” she growled at Bea’s hoons who hesitated, looking to Bea for a demand.  
“Really? You’re gonna turn yourself into a killer for little old me? I’m flattered,” Bea smirked.  
“I swear to god, Bea, you land another fucking hand on Franky and I will kill you.”  
“Oh yeah, how is she? She’s having a nice long nap, isn’t she? Not surprised, she must be tired after fucking everyone over.”  
“If she dies, so do you,” Erica stated simply, but there was a dangerous edge to her voice none of the women had ever heard her use as governor.  
Bea shrugged, “Good thing dying doesn’t scare me then,” she stated truthfully; that was part of what made her such a fearless top dog, she actually didn’t give a shit if she died anymore.  
Erica shook her head, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she said in a low voice, letting the other woman go. She wandered off.

“Franky, come on, wake up. I’ve got a story for you. You won’t believe it,” Erica squeezed the other prisoner’s hand. It had been over a week and she hadn’t even woken up, “Don’t make me survive in here without you. I need you.”  
Franky showed no signs of hearing and Will took her away; he shouldn’t have let her visit at all but neither of them had anyone else and he must have been going soft because he actually felt sorry for them.

Erica had taken to moving the little furniture her cell had in front of the door each night. Not exactly abiding by the rules, but she needed to sleep and she needed to stay safe. She didn’t know how else. The other women seemed ruffled by her roughness with the top dog and were tiptoeing around her for a couple of days afterwards. Good thing, too because she’d taken to carrying a shiv around with her too and the place she was in right now, she’d use it too.

“Come on, open your eyes. I swear to god Franky,” Erica was begging now, running her fingers over the back of Franky’s hands, “Please.”  
But just like the last eight days, Franky didn’t move a muscle and the machines sounds and visuals were the only sound that she was alive. The doctor’s were saying each passing day was making it more unlikely that she’d ever…  
Erica found a rare moment to herself in her room, tracing the writing that Franky had placed through one of her favourite books. She let a stray tear make it to her lip before wiping it away. She looked up as her door open and quickly stood up upon seeing the top dog close the door behind her.  
“What do you want?” Erica asked in a gravelly tone.  
“Seems you’ve spooked a few of the women,” Bea said slowly, “I don’t like that.”  
Erica shrugged, “What are you going to do about it?” she said in a braver tone than she was feeling, her mind on the knife in her pocket. It was Bea’s fault Franky couldn’t wake up, this stupid murderer’s fault that Franky lay there looking as weak as a defenceless child, that Erica had taken a dozen beatings since entering this place. If Franky died (Erica swallowed hard upon thinking this), she would kill Bea. She knew that to be the truth.  
“Well one of us is a murderer, one of us is not,” Bea shrugged, almost reading Erica’s mind and pulling out a shiv from nowhere.

Erica reacted quickly but not quickly enough, she was still raising her own knife when she felt Bea’s go into her chest. She’d seen it coming but it still surprised her. The pain was hot but dull at the same time and somehow, Erica knew this wasn’t something medical could fix as her knee’s hit the ground, she held the wall to keep herself upright. The withdrawal of the knife from her chest hurt much, much more than it going in. She could almost feel her insides collapsing on each other. Bea kicked her in the face, hard and she fell back, arms sprawled out and blood gushing from her chest. She could have just laid there and let death take over her but Erica had never been one to lie down and take it. Somehow, adrenalin maybe, or just knowing she only had moments left in the living world, she got to her feet clumsily and stuck her knife straight into Bea’s back, close to her spine. Just for good measure, she delivered another blow in her lower back and Bea fell to the ground. What did she have to lose now? Besides, somehow she was still thinking rationally enough to know if she didn’t kill Bea, Franky would if she did ever wake up. At least one of them had to get out of Wentworth; now there was nobody for Franky to seek revenge on. She held the wall and almost laughed imagining Franky’s annoyance at Erica taking care of Bea. She then collapsed onto the floor, eyes staring up for a few seconds in pain before she closed them. She imagined Franky beside her, holding her hand, stroking her hair, telling her not to be scared and she tried not to be, but she was young, she shouldn’t be lying here dying. Not yet. How had she possibly go in this deep and so quickly? But she wouldn’t know that feeling of Franky ever again. So she used her mind to just remember Franky’s smile light up whenever Erica would walk into the room, to just remember that somebody thought the world of her despite all the bad turns she had taken.

 

  
Franky came to with a cough and a pounding headache.  
“Where’s Erica?” were, naturally, her first words.


End file.
